Posted By
George
on 2023-07-20
07:31:11
 |  Lightpen software/games
Hi friends,
i have a Trojan Lightpen with its bundled CAD Software. Do you know any other Software/game which can be used with this pen?
Can you recommend a good documentation for programming own software with a Lightpen?
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Posted By
BSZ
on 2023-07-20
15:23:13
| Re: Lightpen software/games
I don't think you'll find good documentation on this. Since the TED does not have a dedicated light-pen input (fixme!), and therefore no "standard" way of handling it, the creators had to do some trickery to get it to work. But it's not much use, with today's modern displays the light-pen is not working anyway. A simple mouse is more usable.
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Posted By
George
on 2023-07-20
18:10:25
| Re: Lightpen software/games
Thanks for the reply. I will try to find some documentation.
I used the Trojan Lightpen on Commodore Plus/4 today. I want to share at least this picture of a butterfly drawn with a lightpen, after totally messing up recording today, while trying to make a video for my channel.
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Posted By
MIK
on 2023-07-21
05:56:03
 | Re: Lightpen software/games
Cool photo!
Looking at you monitor...
Recently I picked up this monitor stand from IKEA, it's metal and you don't need to use the draw. The draw just slides in, no runners. It's almost the width of an Amiga A1200, plenty of room for a Plus/4 and should allow easier access to the back. More than strong enough for a 14 inch CRT. And it's black. 
https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/elloven-monitor-stand-with-drawer-anthracite-00485101/
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Posted By
BSZ
on 2023-07-22
12:26:49
| Re: Lightpen software/games
@George: Congratulations! It takes a lot of patience to draw this! 
I've only seen one of these working in real life once (in the 90s, not sure if this was the programme), but it looked very cumbersome to use. (It was particularly interesting when the program searched for the position of the pen on the screen.) That's why you can't find many programs for it: it doesn't have a standard interface with the right hardware support (unlike C64 / VIC20 / other machines).
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Posted By
George
on 2023-07-22
23:48:27
| Re: Lightpen software/games
@MIK: Thanks! Very nice Monitorstand. I will check it out!
@BSZ: Thank you! I decided to redraw the butterfly and finish the video. Yes the usage is really cumbersome, because it depends on the right monitor settings (brightness and contrast).
Video: https://youtu.be/SrGtbNwS3uE (Youtube)
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Posted By
MIK
on 2023-07-23
19:03:00
| Re: Lightpen software/games
I gave your light pen video a thumbs up and left a comment. 
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Posted By
George
on 2023-07-24
04:48:26
| Re: Lightpen software/games
@Mik Thank you! very much apreciated. You have a new follower
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Posted By
MMS
on 2023-07-24
17:53:25
 | Re: Lightpen software/games
Well, it is not actually a Plus/4 sotware, but the Micro Illustrator on the C64 was prepared to use light pen.
If you check the selection surface on Micro Illustrator +4 , it fits very well to the lightpen selection purpose, as you not needed to be very precise to select a certain function or color (big selection surfaces), so from my point of view, MI would fit much better to lightpen usage, that the TROJAN.
(Micro Illustrator was one of the planned built-in programs before 3+1, imagine all Plus/4 would have been equipped a ligthpen and a Micro illustrator in the ROM  we would have now hundreds of graphicians )
Micro_Illustrator
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Posted By
George
on 2023-07-25
07:31:19
| Re: Lightpen software/games
@MMS Thank you for the hint. I am looking for a while to get a boxed Micro Illustrator (mI)and try it out. Would be cool to compare the C64 version with the Plus/4 Version of MI and Trojan CAD Master. Especially with the Lightpen. If the lightpen had been more reliable i could imagine it as a standard pointing device of 80's homecomputers.
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Posted By
MMS
on 2023-07-25
17:05:04
| Re: Lightpen software/games
@George
It would be great to compare them! I saw one test about the C64 version, and it looks the same.
BTW I really enjoyed your video about the process to create a nice pic with the lightpen.
I just read it needs high light input for detection, maybe a white backgound color may help in the proper position detection.
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Posted By
George
on 2023-07-26
11:44:07
| Re: Lightpen software/games
@MMS Thank you for the good words. I wanted to try out the Lightpen for a while now and i thougt it would be a good idea to make a simple graphic and document the process as long the hardware still works and share it with others.
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Posted By
George
on 2023-07-26
11:44:39
| Re: Lightpen software/games
@MMS Thank you for the good words. I wanted to try out the Lightpen for a while now and i thougt it would be a good idea to make a simple graphic and document the process as long the hardware still works and share it with others.
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